Christian Elliss Earns His Spot on the 53

The addition of the Eagles LB for his solid work on special teams was one of a couple of moves the team made prior to playing the Cowboys in Week 16

Christian Elliss secured his spot on the Eagles’ 53-man roster the old-fashioned way, the second-year linebacker earned it.

The son of former Detroit Pro Bowl defensive lineman Luther Elliss, Christian stood out behind the scenes when it came to the third phase and the Eagles’ pulled the Elliss card back from the practice squad. on Dec.4 against Tennessee after struggling the week prior on kick coverage against Green Bay.

The returns were immediate and Philadelphia exhausted Elliss’ PS elevations by elevating him for subsequent wins at the New York Giants and at Chicago.

Over those three games, Elliss recorded four special teams tackles and is currently tied for the third-best mark on the team despite the limited playing time. 

In 56 total special teams snaps, 38 of which have been in coverage, Pro Football Focus has graded Elliss out as the team’s top special teams performer ahead of Shaun Bradley, Zech McPhearson, and K’Von Wallace.

He's also gotten 22 mop-up snaps on defense and produced seven tackles.

With no PS elevations remaining, the Eagles promoted Elliss to the active roster on Friday afternoon. To make room, the team placed tight end Tyree Jackson on injured reserve after he showed up on the injury report earlier this week with a knee injury.

Jackson, of course, tore his ACL in Week 18 last season and was on the RESERVE/PUP list for the first nine games of the season. He returned for the Nov. 20 win at Indianapolis and played in 34 offensive snaps over the past five games as the third TE behind Jack Stoll and Grant Calcaterra while Dallas Goedert was out with a small fracture of the glenoid bone in his shoulder.

Goedert is set to return to action at Dallas on Saturday while the Eagles removed a questionable injury designation for receiver Zach Pascal, who cleared concussion protocol and will play against the Cowboys.

The Eagles also elevated punter Brett Kern for the second consecutive week and will have one more elevation against New Orleans on Jan. 1 before they will have to add the punter to the 53-man roster.

SI Eagles Today saw injured punter Arryn Siposs in the Eagles’ locker room earlier this week and he was still on a Roll-A-Bout. Siposs said he was feeling better but the belief is he will not return this season.

As for the Cowboys, rookie defensive end Sam Williams was ruled out of the game after a Thursday car accident left him with a concussion and neck strain. He joins starting linebacker Leighton Vander Esch (neck) as players ruled out by Dallas.

The Cowboys also elevated two players from their PS: cornerback Mackensie Alexander and center Brock Hoffman.

-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Football 24/7 and a daily contributor to ESPN South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen